1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to techniques for securely accessing remote data sources. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a system and a method for establishing temporary and permanent credentials for secure online transactions.
2. Related Art
Providing a personalized shopping experience is becoming an increasingly important goal for retail businesses. Customers are beginning to value high-end services tailored to their individual needs, such as personalized shopping lists, recommendations, product customizations, and expedited checkout. Typically, a valued customer identifies herself in a retail store by
The proliferation of online shopping provides consumers with unprecedented convenience. However, providing an effortless personalized shopping experience over the Internet is not an easy task. A user of a retail website is often required to complete a time-consuming registration process. Furthermore, to receive personally tailored web pages, the user often needs to configure the web pages manually. The task of inputting registration information and configuring web pages can be difficult for a customer who is unfamiliar with navigating through the Internet. Such an online experience may even frustrate a customer who is familiar with the membership-based services in retail stores. As a result, a retailer may lose potential sales. Currently, there is no online shopping system which provides personalized services with the same level of ease as is available in a retail store.
For many Internet users, online shopping is not the only frustrating online experience. Many Internet applications require secure access to remote data sources, which typically involves a user having to perform configuration operations, such as setting up a username and a password, specifying protocol parameters, and configuring network addresses. For example, to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) tunnel, a user needs to provide an Internet Protocol (IP) address, a username, and a password. A user who is not comfortable with this configuration process may be reluctant to use these applications. Consequently, many users cannot readily take advantage of services that provide wireless network access and remote data storage and retrieval.
Hence, there is a need for a system that facilitates secure remote data access which requires minimal manual configuration.